Printed Aleph-Bet Chart – Hebrew and Italian – Livorno, 1846

Printed Aleph-Bet Chart – Hebrew and Italian – Livorno, 1846

Printed Aleph-Bet chart, with morning prayers, an abridged Birkat HaMazon and other blessings, Shema and other prayer texts. Livorno: Moise ed Israel Palagi e Salomone Belforte, 1846. Hebrew, Italian and some Ladino.

Chart for the instruction of Hebrew and Italian to children. The upper part of the leaf shows the letters of the Hebrew alphabet with various vowel points, as well as the Latin alphabet and the digits. The alphabet is flanked on the right by the morning prayers, Shema and blessings recited over food; and on the left by an abridged version of Birkat HaMazon and other blessings. The chart also contains Torah Tzivah Lanu Moshe and other verses.
Adjacent to the center of the leaf, in two separate columns, the letters of the Latin alphabet with various vowels are shown in a smaller size, with basic texts for learning to read in Italian. There also appear numbers (Arabic and Roman numerals), a multiplication table, and the days of the week, months and seasons, in Italian.
The short titles introducing the blessings and prayer sections are printed in Ladino.
The center of the leaf is occupied by an illustration of a class of students. Several students are shown studying by a table, with a winged figure hovering over them and showering them with treats. Near them is a teacher brandishing a whip, ready to hit a disobedient student.
Charts such as this one were printed in Italy from the mid-17th century until the 19th century. Most of the charts were printed in a similar format, with the Aleph-Bet chart in the center and accompanying texts (with typographic variations). The illustration at the center of this leaf also appears in all other charts, with minor variations in the details (in earlier charts the illustration is a woodcut, while in later ones it is engraved). Charts printed from the mid-19th century, such as the present item, along with the Hebrew text, which was left practically unchanged over the years, added the letters of the Latin alphabet, digits and numbers, syllables, words and short texts for beginning to learn to read in Italian.

Approx. 55X42 cm. Somewhat dark paper. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Small open tears to folds and margins, slightly affecting text. Framed. Not examined outside of the frame.

For details about other Aleph-Bet charts printed in Italy, and about the variations between the illustrations, see: Y. Yudlov, Italian Alphabet Charts, Kiryat Sefer, 62, 1988-1989, pp. 930-932 (Hebrew; the present chart is no. 10 in Yudlov's list).